In the West, where fresh water is taken for granted, we are beginning to see the possibility of our water reservoirs depleting. Some states in the USA are already noticing consequences of misusing freshwater, such as California, which hasn’t seen a regular rain for the last four consecutive years (Egan). Many California residents have taken measures to reduce their water… Read more »
Land and water are fundamental concepts that are deeply rooted in the understanding of the political ecology of the world food system. Essentially every industry is in some way or another based on land. Politically speaking land is the most desirable asset because of the minerals and potential opportunity to generate desirable goods and services. Coupled with humanity’s need for… Read more »
Atkinson, Katherine. Dam. 2005 Photograph. Flickr. www.flickr.com 2017 It is nothing new that we are over depleting our aquafers on a global level. While not everywhere has hit peak water usage yet, many places have as we continue to use our fresh water supply quicker than it can be replenished. This is particularly important with regard to fossil aquifers… Read more »
The water crisis in India raises concerns of global climate change endangering not only the availability of water for consumption, but also for agricultural and infrastructure use. Prevalent coal power plants in India rely on water to generate steam for electricity, water needed for concrete for infrastructure, and reservoirs are running dry. Things have gotten so bad that farmers have… Read more »
In a world that is ever increasingly subjected to the consequences of climate change, weather patterns have not just become a bigger part of public and private discourse, it is having real effects on our lives. One of the many manifestations of climate change is severe drought. This is evident across the globe from Southern California to the Middle East…. Read more »
Western institutes employ thousands of people, allocating financial and agricultural resources in attempts to contain the problem of hunger in developing nations, but these efforts aren’t enough. An obvious solution to hunger is… send hungry people food! But the cost of transportation, in dollars as well as environmental pollutants, creates more problems than it solves (Robbins). Instead of providing consistent aid… Read more »
Tristram Stuart’s TedTalk The Global Food Waste Scandal reveals the global scale of food wasted and addresses the different ways to tackle food waste in the midst of growing world hunger. Stuart presents the unfortunate reality we live in and the responsibility we play in further perpetuating world hunger with the statistics indicating that with the surplus of food in… Read more »
Peter Menzel’s Hungry Planet depicts the various dietary and health lifestyles choices from various families around the globe. The Western diet, generally consisting of red meats, refined grains, processed foods, high fat and sugar content, as well as large food chains such as McDonalds have become popular making its way to countries like Japan, but not so much in countries… Read more »
In contemplating living systems, it’s difficult to imagine that so many “dead” systems form relationships with human bodies that can bring such differences in how lives unfold. Humanity brings to life systems that are otherwise inert. It is easier for me to imagine how living systems theory works in an interactive way between organisms and the environment when I imagine… Read more »
Check out Tristram Stuart’s TED talk on the global food waste scandal. I felt that it really accentuated a large bounty of the political ecology of the world food system. It also touched upon Peter Quinn’s work in his article Hunger Games: Who Gets to Eat & Who Decides. Essentially, as Stuart described the modern-day realities of the world… Read more »